Boardman stays on at Amtrak with contract extension

Amtrak President Joseph Boardman will continue to serve in his current position, as Amtrak’s Board of Directors extended his interim contract for an indefinite period while postponing any decision to install a permanent president.

Boardman (pictured at left) was appointed interim President in November 2008, following the resignation of Alex Kummant. Boardman, a voting member of the Amtrak board, did not vote on his own contract extension.

As Amtrak president, Boardman has advocated bolstering service frequencies on existing Amtrak routes and pursuing incremental improvements to trains speeds and schedules. Though Boardman supports the Obama Administration’s efforts to kick-start U.S. high speed rail (HSR), he has noted that any widespread U.S. effort would likely be more along the lines of Higher Speed Rail (HrSR).